Science Fiction Though the Decades

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

2009: The Apex Book of World SF (Tidhar, Lavie)

Good collection which
overuses the word “whilst” (4/5)

I was born, raised and educated
in America but I’ve lived more than a third of my life in Thailand, almost my
entire adult life actually; it has become my home—the place, people and
customs I’m most familiar with. America is a foreign country. When I visit, the
weather is unpredictable, the food is terrible and the shows people watch on TV
are shameful, indulgent. Anyway, the
general atmosphere is oppressive.

Being (what I hope doesn’t
sound hokey) a global citizen, many of my friends and students come from
different backgrounds: Turkey, France, Lao, China, Brazil, Russia, Myanmar, Singapore,
Korea, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Portugal… just to name a few
off the top of my head. Each time, I’m exposed to a different narrative, a
fresh perspective on life. Verbalizing the difference between each cultural narrative
is impossible, but a warm quality of humanity is pervasive; stereotypes dissolve:
not all Koreans are technologically savvy, not all Chinese are ugly tourists, not
all Singaporeans are submissive law abiders, not all Irish are… well, actually,
they are—that one’s true.

In essence, this mingling of
cultures, this sometimes demonized “globalization”, has stirred the soup of our
shared narratives. Many people are now raised in bilingual, bicultural families.
This leads us to the question: What is World SF? Is it a story which typifies a
people or a merely exotic surname? Is it a story exhibiting tactic cultural norms
or merely engrossed in myth? In the end, the stories in this collection don’t
have that exotic spark of foreign culture but they DO all have some wonderfully
exotic names. If the reader is looking for foreignness within speculative
fiction, these are not the stories you are looking for; but if the reader is
interested in narratives which are difficult to access, this just may be it.

As mentioned in the paragraph above,
this is a collection of “World SF” where “SF” does not stand for “science
fiction”, as it commonly does, rather for “speculative fiction”: fantasy,
horror, sci-fi, alternative history, etc. if you come looking for science
fiction, these are not the stories you are looking for.

------Complaint Section, skip
if desired------

One gripe: Being a global
citizen and also being an English teacher, I understand that some countries
prefer to use “while” and others prefer “whilst”; however, the use of each is
not exclusive. Americans only use “while” but the British, for example, juggle
the two. Take these great British novels for example:

Virgina Woolf’s Mrs.
Dalloway: while (32 times), whilst (0 times)

E.M. Forster’s A Room With a
View: while (54 times), whilst (1 time)

Agatha Christie’s And Then
There Were None: while (10 times), whilst (1 time)

The stories in this collection
very, very oddly only use “while” once (page 148); every other story
exclusively uses “whilst”—sixty-six times to be exact, two of which aren’t even
real words:

“Meanwhile” has 57,900,000
Google hits; “meanwhilst” only has 62,600 results.

“Worthwhile” has 15,500,000
Google hits; “worthwhilst” only has 9,650 results.

Editor’s fault? Publisher’s
fault?

This collection (Apex, an
American publisher) has a version of Aliette de Bodard’s “The Lost Xuyan Bride”
that contains “whilst” 10 times. Anyone can access Aliette de Bodard’s website
and read another version of “The Lost Xuyan Bride” (first printed in the
British magazine Interzone, 2007) that contains “while” 10 times.

Mutually exclusive?

------End of Rant------

Thailand, S.P. Somtow

“The Bird Catcher” (2001,
novelette) – 4/5

Thailand’s own boogieman isn’t
a strand of fiction—he actually existed and is actually preserved in a forensic
museum just west of Bangkok. Nicolas has a story: He found his way to Siam as a
stowaway from China where he was in a concentration camp. He arrived on the
same boat as Si Ui, the man who caught and ate live birds. When they meet
again, bird livers aren’t the only thing Si Ui has a hunger for.

Netherlands, Jetse de vries

“Transcendence Express” (2007,
shortstory) – 4/5

In the Dutch lowlands, research
into quantum computing hits stride when crossed with biology, resulting in a
bioquantum computer (BIQCO). Liona, once a straight-laced follower of
innovation, follows her boyfriend to Zambia where he is a volunteer. She, too,
volunteers her knowledge to the community. The homemade BIQCOs slowly learn
from the children and, in time, the children learn from them.

Israel, Guy Hasson

“The Levantine Experiments”
(2009, shortstory) – 5/5

An 11-year-old girl, having
been born, weaned and taught language under nearly absolute isolation until the
age of five, is under constant observation as an experiment. Her home—a cell;
her fixation—a crack in the wall; her limitations—endless. After two years of
dreaming exclusively of the crack and its alienness of the light and dark voids
beyond it, she is rescued into another prison.

China, Han Song

“The Wheel of Samsara” (2009,
shortstory) – 3/5

From Mars, a girl with wonder
in her eyes visits a Tibetan lamasery where 108 wheels spin in the wind—the
Wheels of Samara. The 36th wheel, however, is discolored, counter-rotating and
makes strange noises in the nightly wind. Back on Mars, she tells her learned
father of the phenomenon. He eventually travels to Tibet to witness the relic
and is confronted by a reality unknown to his precious science.

Australia/Fiji, Kaaron Warren

“Ghost Jail” (2008, shortstory)
– 2/5

The slums called Cewa Flats are
evacuated because of, what the Chief of Police says, the sacred ground under
the site. Keith and Lisa, journalists from the newspaper, visit the Flats where
the residents tell them of the contractible cancer of the breathe. Deciding on
a closer look, Lisa discovers the Flats to be haunted and Rashmilla, a spirit
contact, informs her that the gravestones render her escape impossible.

China, Yang Ping

“Wizard World” (2009,
novelette) – 4/5

Lured into his own death by a
character with the handle of Pig Tongue, Xingxing is miffed as to why he can’t
access his account on the MUD game. Not having left his room for three years,
he seeks help within the game under a new account; his Wizard friend Porket
helps him discover the widespread hacking of the entire game program. Even in
the year 2097, some vindication must be done in person.

Philippines, Dean Francis Alfar

“The Kite of Stars” (2003,
shortstory) – 4/5

Only sixteen and love struck by
the reckless jaunt of a young, influential astronomer who “only has eyes from
the stars”, Marie becomes inspired to meet the young stargazer whatever it
takes, or whenever. Her grand idea is to ascend in a kite for him to observe
her, but the kite maker insists on the impossibility of its construction;
regardless, she sets out for sixty years to retrieve the 1,000-part list.

Israel, Nir Yaniv

“Cinderers” (2004, shortstory)
– 3/5

On a personal quest of wanton
murder, Huey, Louie and Dweye kill various people by various methods,
eventually racking up more than eighty deaths. The narrative trio attain
singularity when the Demon, an outside force bent on curing the multiple
personality war of his mental disease, kills the remaining personalities.
However, the inner qualm of the murderer goes deeper than the split
personalities.

Palestine, Jamil Nasir

“The Allah Stairs” (1990,
shortstory) – 3/5

Laziz was the small, pale,
awkward boy in primary school with the recurring bizarre story of sending his
father up the Allah Stairs because of the abuse inflicted upon little Laziz.
Years later and grown to adults, two ex-classmates revisit the apartment they
and Laziz used to live in, where they see the Allah Stairs in Laziz’s room. They
track the man down for an explanation and reassurance.

Malaysia, Tunku Halim

“Biggest Bassest Bomoh” (1997,
shortstory) – 4/5

Idris Ishak is crazy about Zani
Kasim, the new secretary who has become his object of worship. Her popularity
among the staff and utter beauty doesn’t keep him from having a few tries at
dates with her. Eventually his reality intruded on his fantasy and he resorted
to contacting the witch doctor his friend recommended. His wish for iron-clad
reciprocal love becomes true when she visits his home.

France, Aliette de Bodard

“The Lost Xuyan Bride” (2007,
novelette) – 4/5

Jonathon Brooks is an American
investigator with a curious history of having a deceased wife and fleeing the
east state of America for the west state of Xuyan. The case of his missing
daughter of a tech company founder sends Brooks on a path with the local ring
of mafia, whom the young missing girl is betrothed with, and into the southern
country of Mexica and their discriminatory isolation.

Philippines, Kristin Mandigma

“Except from a Letter by a
Social-Realist Aswang” (2007, shortstory) – 5/5

In a meta-fictional twist on a
Kafkaesque reality, an editor bitingly responds to a story submission by a
fledging author who penned a novel about fighting monster cockroaches on an
alien planet (a la Heinlein) while Earth itself is being protected by
“alienated capitalist soldiers” (167-168). The Filipino editor questions the
author’s socialistic allegiances and defends herself as a “baby eater”.

Croatia, Aleksandar Ziljak

“An Evening in the City
Coffeehouse, with Lydia on My Mind” (1999, shortstory) – 4/5

Zargeb is full of beautiful
women. This situation doesn’t impinge upon most minds but does drive one
man into a voyeuristic indulgence. He secretly seeds houses with “flies” which
record the subject’s most intimate encounters. He sells these thousands of
terabytes of footage, but one gorgeous subject he want to keep for himself. The
footage, however, shows her having some rather strange bed partners.

India, Anil Menon

“Into the Night” (2008,
shortstory) – 3/5

Displaced from Mumbai to the
Pacific island of Meridian, an 82-year-old Brahmin finds the transition
difficult in part by his language preference for Tamil, his unfamiliarity with
the science his daughter spouts off about, and the alienation from his culture.
His emotionally disconnected daughter staunches his chance of integration and
the memory of his wife fills him with discomfort in a technological world.

France, Melanie Fazi

“Elegy” (2007, shortstory) –
5/5

Deborah and Benjamin are the
parents of twins, whom they adore even after their disappearance from their
bedroom. Benjamin regresses to drunken stagnation and emotional detachment
while Deborah pleads to a majestic tree on the hill which bores the generic likeness
of Adam and Anne; she pleads with sacrificial words and the blood of her hands.
Only a human sacrifice, she thinks, can appease it.

4 comments:

I'm honored by your stopping by Mr. Žiljak. The whole "whilst" issue was greatly annoying (to someone like me who is sensitive to word repetition) and marred my enjoyment of the collection. Your own story was great except for the rather abrupt Lazarus conclusion.